Windows Me brings users into the digital world
This is the second story in a four-part series from Microsoft
PressPass that highlights each of the themes around which
the new consumer operating system was developed: PC health,
digital media, home networking, and the online
experience.
"I’m no Steven Spielberg," says
61-year-old Mary Trussell of Dallas. "To be honest, one of my
videos was so bouncy it made my son seasick." Her son lives in
Japan, and is a regular recipient of Trussell’s home videos.
"But I love making movies. You can take things that are
important to you, put them on the computer and send them
around the world."
For Trussell, the digital media
features in Windows Me, Microsoft’s upcoming version of
Windows for home users, have made keeping in touch with
friends and family across the nation and around the globe
easier, faster and a lot more fun.
"The features in
Windows Me are very simple to use," says Trussell, who bought
her first computer in 1992. Eight years later, Trussell says
that Windows Me—thanks in no small part to its digital media
features—is the version of Windows home users have been
waiting for. "The features are very intuitive. It’s so simple
I never even read the instructions, which drives my engineer
husband crazy."
Trussell has spent the last 11 months
testing a beta version of Windows Me. The new operating
system, which will be available in retail channels on
September 14, was developed around four themes: PC health,
home networking, the online experience, and digital media.
Built to be the optimal platform for home users who want
access to the full range of activities offered on the
Internet, Windows Me incorporates many new features that
developers hope will take the fear out of getting online.
Bringing cutting-edge technology to users with little
or no technology experience is one of the strongest features
of Windows Me, according to Art Pettigrue, product manager for
Windows Me at Microsoft. "I think what we’re seeing today is
the evolution of a new digital world," Pettigrue says.
"Windows Me—and particularly the digital media
enhancements—brings this brand new world to everyday home
users so that they can take advantage of some phenomenal new
technology. Windows Me really responds to what’s going on
today in the computing world." Digital media is a core focus
of Windows Me, Pettigrue added, making Windows Me the natural
choice for finding, organizing, creating, and playing digital
movies, music, pictures, and games.
Making Movies
with Windows Me
For Pettigrue, the digital media
advances made to the operating system reflect the vision that
inspired Windows Me. "Windows Me really lets you take
advantage of the latest computing scenarios," he says. "When
you look back three or four years, it’s amazing how far we’ve
come. Windows Me lets people organize and share information
and be really creative with personal interests in ways that
weren’t possible a few years ago."
Microsoft focused
on developing and enhancing the digital media features
throughout the process of developing Windows Me, according to
Pettigrue. "We’ve responded to the digital entertainment
explosion so that the home user can reap the benefits and take
advantage of it," he says. "Music, video, gaming, pictures—all
of the things that you couldn’t exploit before unless you had
lots of expensive equipment—are now just a click or two away."
Windows Movie Maker, for example, allows users to
digitize and edit home movies retrieved from a number of
sources, including media files via the Internet or
e-mail, a digital video camera, an analog video
camera, or a VCR. Using a single cable, users can import
videos to Movie Maker by clicking a "Record" button, selecting
the camera as the video source, and naming and saving the
video file. "Movie Maker is designed for everyone," Pettigrue
says. "It doesn’t matter what kind of video equipment you
have."
Windows Me enables users to organize and store
digital videos with the new Windows Media Player 7, which
includes a media library that allows users to organize and
manage video and audio files from one central location.
Windows Me also includes Windows
Image Acquisition (WIA), a new technology that identifies
WIA-enabled digital cameras and scanners instantly when
plugged in and lets users view pictures before they download
them onto their PCs. "WIA is a technology that helps users
transfer digital images from cameras and scanners to their
PCs," Pettigrue says. "Up until now, the PC and the digital
camera have been treated as two separate devices. With Windows
Me, the convergence of digital cameras and PCs make the two
act as a single device."
One of the best features,
according to Mary Trussell, is the ability of Windows Me to
compress video files. "Digital media is huge," she says.
Windows Me, however, compresses files into one-tenth of their
original size, which makes sending movies and pictures around
the world easier and quicker. "We took some video of my Dad
from a cassette and ran the tape on Movie Maker and made it
into a file that we sent to people all over," Trussell says.
"The compression is incredible."
The Sound of
Music
Music, according to Pettigrue, is another
important feature of Windows Me. "Windows Media Player 7 makes
it really easy to get your music, organize it, and store it in
a fun and intuitive way," he says. "We’ve improved and added
technologies to make accessing the latest in music simple,
easy, and fast."
With Windows Media Player 7, users
can listen to music that is streamed over the Internet without
having to download anything to their hard drive. Once users
are ready to download, however, Windows Media Player 7 offers
a number of options for storing, sharing, and listening to
audio files. The "Copy Music" feature lets users transfer
music from an audio CD to digital tracks stored on the hard
disk, or even transfer music to a portable device. Users can
then access the tracks they like on the PC and play them in
any order they want, at any time.
Windows Media Player
7 also offers features for people who listen to music the "old
fashioned" way—on a CD. When you insert a music CD into the
CD-ROM drive on the computer, Windows Media Player 7 will
automatically retrieve the artist, title, and track
information. And it goes further than that: the "Album Detail"
feature draws information from the built-in media guide—a
database of hundreds of thousands of CDs with artist
biographies, discography, and links to other artists the
listener might enjoy.
Collaboration Offers Home
Users Seamless Digital Media Experience
Microsoft
is working closely with several other companies to make sure
that Windows Me works seamlessly with other digital
media-enabled products, Pettigrue says. For example, Microsoft
worked with a number of other companies during the development
of Windows Me, including POPcast, AcmeCity, Fortune City, XOOM, and Belkin Components.
Melody Saffrey, Universal Serial Bus (USB) product
manager with Belkin Components, says the rising popularity in
digital media is driven by the Internet and by users’ desire
to do more with their computers. "People want to connect more
things to their computer—like their stereo systems and
handheld devices," she says. "It also got a big push from the
Internet. There’s a demand to share information in both
business and personal situations."
Belkin’s answer to
the challenge is the VideoBus II, a cable that connects a
variety of camera equipment to Movie Maker via a port on the
PC. VideoBus II allows users to capture video to the computer,
create, edit, and add sound to movies, connect devices to the
PC, and download and edit video from other formats.
Saffrey says Belkin was drawn to developing products
that work in concert with Windows Me because of a surge in
market demand. "The technology that allows end users to bring
video to their PC has reached its time for market," she says.
"And the system is easier to use, packed with more power, and
added features that are very visible to both end users and
developers. It’s just made the computer even easier to use."
Pettigrue says he, too, is pleased with the way
Windows Me has enhanced and simplified computing for users.
"With Windows Me, people can use their PCs as an entertainment
device and a tool for creativity," Pettigrue says. "With
digital media, home users can access the Internet and all the
video and music capabilities it has to offer without being
limited by the technology."
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